Why do I need to know à la louche?

Because this phrase can come up in plenty of different situations, from asking how much something will cost to baking cookies.

What does it mean?

À la louche – roughly pronounced ah lah loosh – translates as ‘by the ladle’ or ‘a ladleful’. 

You might see this in an old cookbook or as a spoken instruction when cooking with a French person, but the phrase is not only reserved for the kitchen.

À la louche can be used in plenty of other circumstances, and it has been around since the Middle Ages.

Colloquially, it is a way to say ‘approximately’ or ‘roughly’, giving the image of someone scooping soup or another liquid with a ladle, even though it is not a precise measuring tool. One person’s ladle might be significantly larger (or smaller) than another’s.

There are several synonyms for à la louche in French, including environ, à peu près, en gros, plus ou moins and approximativement.

As for the word louche, which English speakers might recognise as a way to refer to a person with semi-questionable morals. Louche does have a second meaning in French besides ‘ladle’. It can also be used to describe someone or something that ‘is not clear or honest’.

Use it like this

Ne notez pas cela par écrit, c’est juste mon estimation à la louche. – Don’t put that in writing, it’s just a rough estimate.

Il m’a dit que les réparations coûteraient à la louche €150. – He told me that the repairs would cost around €150.